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Pakistan claim about blocking submarine questioned by India
The Pakistan Navy had earlier claimed it had detected Indian submarines trying to enter the country’s territorial waters in November 2016 and March 2019. Both those incidents had been dismissed by the Indian side.
The Pakistan Navy’s claim of blocking an Indian submarine from entering the country’s territorial waters was questioned on Tuesday by the Indian side, which noted the vessel allegedly involved in the incident appeared to have been operating in international waters.
A statement issued by the Pakistani military’s media arm said the navy had detected and blocked what was reportedly an attempt by an Indian submarine to enter Pakistani waters in the Arabian Sea on October 16.
“It is the third incident of its kind wherein an Indian submarine has been prematurely detected and tracked by Pakistan Navy’s long range maritime patrol aircraft,” the statement said. The Pakistan Navy has been keeping a “strict monitoring watch” to safeguard maritime frontiers in the prevailing security milieu, it said.
However, people familiar with the matter on the Indian side questioned whether the vessel involved in the purported incident was an Indian submarine. The people said on condition of anonymity the vessel purportedly detected by the Pakistan Navy appeared to be 140 to 150 nautical miles away from the port city of Karachi, according to GPS coordinates shown in a video released by the Pakistani military.
The people said, a country’s territorial waters extend to 12 nautical miles from the shore, and any vessel can freely operate in international waters. The authenticity of the video also was not known, they added.
“The recent incident reflects the deplorable Indian machinations vis-à-vis commitment and resolve of Pakistan Navy to defend maritime frontiers of the motherland,” the Pakistani statement added.
There was no official word from the Indian side.
The Pakistan Navy had earlier claimed it had detected Indian submarines trying to enter the country’s territorial waters in November 2016 and March 2019. Both those incidents had been dismissed by the Indian side.
The militaries of two countries have been on high alert since 2019, when India conducted an airstrike targeting militants inside Pakistan following a suicide bombing at Pulwama in Kashmir that killed 40 Indian troopers.
In February this year, India and Pakistan agreed to adhere to the 2003 ceasefire on the Line of Control (LoC) in Kashmir following months of back-channel contacts between the two sides.
